1. Heinz-Christian Strache was Minister of Civil Service and Sports from January 2018 to May 2019 and chairman of the Freedom Party from April 2005 to May 2019.
24 Facts About Heinz-Christian Strache
1. 2.
Heinz-Christian Strache previously served as a member of the National Council from October 2006 until December 2017 and as a member of the municipal council and state legislature of Vienna.
3.
In May 2019, footage from 2017 was released showing Strache suggesting he could offer business contracts in exchange for political support from a woman posing as the niece of a Russian oligarch.
4.
On 18 May 2019, in the wake of the Ibiza affair, Heinz-Christian Strache announced his resignation as vice-chancellor of Austria, minister, and chairman of the Freedom Party.
5.
On 1 October 2019, Heinz-Christian Strache announced that he was retiring from politics and suspending his membership in the Freedom Party.
6.
Heinz-Christian Strache, who is by profession a dental technician, has been active in the politics of Vienna since 1991.
7.
Heinz-Christian Strache was elected to the Municipal Council and Landtag of Vienna in 2001.
8.
Heinz-Christian Strache had been considered a disciple of long-time national party leader Jorg Haider, but began to oppose him as the result of increased strife within the party in January 2005.
9.
Since the split, Heinz-Christian Strache led the FPO further to the right.
10.
In January 2007, stills taken from a video shot in the late 1980s were published showing a uniformed Heinz-Christian Strache allegedly participating in paramilitary training activities.
11.
Heinz-Christian Strache has denied the allegations, stating the pictures are of him playing paintball as an 18-year-old.
12.
Heinz-Christian Strache denied the allegations prior to publication of the pictures.
13.
Heinz-Christian Strache's support was strongest among young people under 30.
14.
Heinz-Christian Strache was accused of xenophobia during his campaign and responded formally in the press to the allegations.
15.
Heinz-Christian Strache campaigned for the FPO in the lead up to 2019 European Parliament election in Austria.
16.
In what The Guardian described as "doubling down" on rhetoric ahead of the election, Heinz-Christian Strache endorsed the far-right conspiracy of the great replacement.
17.
Heinz-Christian Strache claimed that "population replacement" was real, adding: "We don't want to become a minority in our own country".
18.
Heinz-Christian Strache is currently under investigation for misuse of party funds.
19.
Heinz-Christian Strache was expelled from the FPO in December 2019 for his role in the scandal.
20.
Heinz-Christian Strache accused Der Spiegel and the Suddeutsche Zeitung of showing selectively edited material.
21.
Heinz-Christian Strache participated in the 2020 Viennese state election, but his party did not win any seats.
22.
Heinz-Christian Strache flew to New York shortly after the election of Donald Trump in December 2016 to meet with Michael Flynn at the Trump Tower.
23.
Heinz-Christian Strache was indicted on grounds of bribery by the Public Prosecutorial Service for Economic Cases and Corruption in the Criminal Court of Vienna.
24.
On 10 January 2023 the Criminal Court of Vienna acquitted Heinz-Christian Strache, citing lack of proof.